Officials Suggest Increase in Polk HealthCare Plan

The number of patients approved for the county-run Polk HealthCare Plan could increase by 500 if the Polk County Commission accepts a recommendation from county officials.

By ROBIN WILLIAMS ADAMSTHE LEDGER

BARTOW | The number of patients approved for the county-run Polk HealthCare Plan could increase by 500 if the Polk County Commission accepts a recommendation from county officials.

Six members of a committee that oversees Polk's spending on health care for the uninsured agreed Friday with the proposed expansion from an average 4,500 people a month to 5,000 per month. It was a non-binding consensus since there weren't enough members for a quorum.

"We've got the money in the bank and we ought to be seeing the people," said Andy Laurent, one of the Citizens Healthcare Oversight Committee members.

Some others were hesitant, but ultimately agreed because the upper limit can be adjusted during the year.

With or without an additional 500, the number served by that plan is miniscule in comparison to the 100,000 in Polk County thought to be uninsured.

Those other uninsured residents, if not able to pay for their care, rely on a growing number of volunteer clinics that constantly need more doctors and other medical volunteers. Some clinics have had to curtail enrollment due to being maxed out.

Many people remain without assistance. They are the focus of an ongoing study of how Polk County can make better use of money from the half-cent indigent-care sales tax voters approved in 2004.

Polk HealthCare is the remaining structure of a county health system that once included a hospital and county-run outpatient clinics for the uninsured. It uses sales tax dollars to pay for physician care and hospitalization, if needed, for patients qualifying for the program. Patients receive eligibility cards for six months at a time, so an average 4,500 or 5,000 per month includes many of the same patients each month.

It isn't the only program supported by the sales tax. County officials give financial aid to predominantly volunteer clinics such as the ones in Lakeland, Winter Haven, Haines City, Eloise and Lake Wales. The clinics provide in-office medical care.

The county contracted with Central Florida Health Care to open two primary care centers, which treat both the insured and uninsured. People without insurance or Polk HealthCare coverage are charged by a sliding fee based on income.

Those partnerships increase the number of uninsured helped with sales tax funds to almost 59,000 people a year, county officials said. Polk HealthCare Plan has remained the heart of the program, however.

[ Robin Williams Adams can be reached at robin.adams@theledger.com or 863-802-7558. Read her blog at robinsrx.blogs.theledger.com. Follow on Twitter at ledgerROBIN. ]